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A legislative committee will invite a key figure in South Dakota's EB-5 program to testify next month.

Sen. Larry Tidemann, R-Brookings, said Friday that he'll ask Joop Bollen, who ran the EB-5 program here first as a state official and then later as a private contractor, to speak at the Sept. 24 meeting of the Government Operations and Audit Committee, or GOAC. Tidemann chairs that committee.

"I'm trying to extend an opportunity to Mr. Bollen to come and explain to the people of South Dakota the EB-5 program," Tidemann said.

At the committee's July meeting, a request to force Bollen to testify with a subpoena failed after closed-door legal advice from Attorney General Marty Jackley.

Tidemann said GOAC chose "not to subpoena individuals." But "that doesn't mean I'm not going to invite them to answer the questions," he said. "I think there's a difference there."

Rep. Susan Wismer, the Democratic candidate for governor who made the unsuccessful motion to subpoena Bollen, said Tidemann's decision was a testament to her "quest for answers."

"Rep. Wismer is glad Sen. Tidemann and the committee are finally doing what is right for South Dakotans," her gubernatorial campaign said in a statement.

Despite deciding not to subpoena Bollen on Jackley's private legal advice, Tidemann said a subpoena would still be on the table if Bollen refused to visit the committee.

Tidemann also said he'd forward a list of EB-5 questions released by Democratic lawmakers earlier this week to Gov. Dennis Daugaard and former Gov. Mike Rounds, asking for written responses. He'll also solicit questions from members of the committee.

Democrats had asked for Daugaard, Rounds and Bollen to testify under oath before the committee.

Tidemann also will invite U.S. Attorney Brendan Johnson to address the committee and "update us on the investigation or non-investigation they're doing." Though state officials have said there's a federal investigation of its EB-5 program, Johnson has refused to confirm or deny such an investigation.

Patrick Duffy, attorney for the South Dakota Democratic party, and Zach Crago, executive director of the party, talk Friday morning about the federal EB-5 program.

Tidemann's decision came on the same day the South Dakota Democratic Party held a news conference with a new lawyer it hired to advise it about EB-5.

Patrick Duffy, a prominent Rapid City trial attorney, said he's not planning on filing any immediate legal actions. But Duffy said he believes the "fraud" in the EB-5 program goes much further than has been currently revealed.

Duffy said the federal government is unlikely to issue any indictments before the November election, which he called "simply too late."

He called for whistleblowers in state government or private industry to come forward with any information they have about EB-5.

Tidemann said he wasn't aware of Democrats' Friday news conference when he called.

Craig Lawrence, the chairman of the South Dakota Republican Party, said Democratic calls for more investigation are fruitless.

"This is probably one of the most investigated matters in the history of South Dakota," Lawrence said. "Through all this, there's no smoking gun."

But Lawrence said he's fine with Tidemann's decision to seek more answers.

"I don't think it's wrong or a waste of time for them to do that if that is what it takes for them to completely quell peoples' fears and anxieties if any are there," Lawrence said.

EB-5 is a federal program where foreigners can earn green cards for investing $500,000 into U.S. projects. South Dakota was one of the early pioneers of EB-5, using it to finance more than a dozen projects. Many of those projects were successful, but several have gone bankrupt. State and federal officials investigated former cabinet secretary Richard Benda, who championed EB-5 while in office but is accused of double-billing expenses and redirecting a $550,000 grant to pay his own salary after leaving office.